He's The Boss

14

Later that morning at work, I'm careful not to meet Nate's eye as he waltzes in, looking good and smelling good, and making something ache inside me.

I can't help observing how different people are now with him– Lacey is suddenly paying him her utmost attention, bordering on brown-nosing, while the girls love popping into his office (previously James' office) just to chat or ask trivial questions or even to offer gifts of food (it reminds me of how those teacher's pets used to suck up at school by bringing them home-made brownies).

"Cait," the receptionist calls out to me just then.

"What?" I answer, a little impatiently, because she interrupted my Nate-fueled reverie. I blink as I see a familiar face standing at the counter and looking in my direction. It's Keith, our toughest client and my latest challenge.

"Keith," I exclaim, getting to my feet. "What are you doing here?"

"We have an appointment today."

"We do?" I reach for my calendar, inadvertently knocking my mug over and gasping as coffee spills everywhere. "Shit!" I yell, and everyone stares at me, including a bewildered Keith.

"Is this a bad time ... ?" he asks, brows scrunching.

"No, no, of course not," I answer while frantically mopping up the spill. "Go on into the Cloud Room, and I'll be right here."

"OK." He disappears into one of the corner rooms reserved for private client meetings. I take a few minutes to gather myself, aware of Lacey eyeing me from her desk.

"You OK there, Cait? You look a little rattled."

"I'm fine," I answer as I jog past. I let myself into the peace and quiet of the Cloud Room, plopping down in front of Keith.

He peers at me through his spectacles, raking back his short, dirty blond hair. "You look like you're having an off day," he remarks.

"I'm fine. So, uh, I'm sorry I haven't been able to catch up with you earlier. I was, um, out sick for a couple of days."

"Yeah. I heard. Are you feeling better now?"

"I am."

"That's great."

"Yeah. So great," I echo, pasting on a weak smile. "Anyway, I'm supposed to check up on your date with Lindsey. How'd it go?"

"Well. It was a little awkward at first, but eventually, we got to talking and talking, and we just couldn't stop."

"Really? Wow. That's great, Keith."

"Yeah, we totally lost track of time. We stayed at the restaurant all the way until they had to kick us out – "

I laugh. "That's always good."

"It was a nice night, so, we decided to walk to her apartment building. We took a long route, past the river, through a park. It was nice. Romantic. I learned a lot – things I never would have expected to hear about her."

"OK." Wow, if I actually manage to secure a successful match for Keith ... well, that'd be the first piece of good news I've had in a long while. Wonder if my dear old boss would appreciate just how much of an accomplishment this is ...

"It was so late by the time we got to her building. And then ... she said it."

"What?"

"She asked if I wanted to come up."

"Oh, uh ... you don't have to tell me about that part, Keith – "

"But I want to."

He pauses, drawing a long, deep breath. "I said no."